September 17
Today we opted to not have the continental breakfast that Walter the Innkeeper gives us each morning from 07:30 to 10:00. Instead, we each paid 85 Swiss Francs, less a small discount because we have Eurail Passes, plus 20 Francs each to pay for breakfast, and headed for The Schilthorn, elevation 10,000 feet, to have breakfast in the rotating restaurant. This spot was made famous in the James Bond movie, IN HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. They have memoribilia all over the place, including monograms on the dishes! They even show clips from the movie in a special showing room!
From Gimmelwald, elevation about 4300 feet, you must catch another Tram to Murren. As you exit you climb onto another Tram to an anchor point on another mountain called Borg, where we changed Trams onto the final leg to The Schilthorn.
We had a good breakfast buffet (European style) and we sat watching the scenery go by as the restaurant rotated at the speed of one rotation per hour. After a couple of hours we left and rode back down to Gimmelwald.
We decided that today would be a free day. Debby and Nancy opted to walk around Gimmelwald and see the sights, including seeing the little school house, now closed, and to visit with some school children as they commute on the Tram between Murren and Gimmelwald for lunch!
I was hankering to take a serious hike, so Ron came with me and we headed up the valley towards the headwaters of the River that flows down through the Lauterbrunnen. As we approached the box canyon that ended the valley, we opted to take another trail that became a steep climb towards the North. It was an awesome hike although much longer and harder than we would have liked. But we were treated with superb views and vistas! All in all we had a 6 hour hike across streams, meadows, hills, forests, ridge lines and down into steep canyons. We walked along meadows where cattle grazed peacefully; each wearing a bell arounds it's neck that rang its individual tone with each movement of the head. As they grazed, the combined ringing could have been inspiration for Mozart!
We ended our hike at Murren as it was easier to find and from there we snagged a ticket on the Tram to Gimmelwald. The girls must have missed us because they had Pizza waiting!!
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